


The National Cuisine of Zubrowka

by Adelheid_Desgoffe_Taxis



Series: Zubrowka: A World Inside Out [7]
Category: The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 19:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2036799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Adelheid_Desgoffe_Taxis/pseuds/Adelheid_Desgoffe_Taxis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Make sure you will partake of everything described in this humble article, should you happen to visit the hospitable Republic of Zubrowka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The National Cuisine of Zubrowka

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The culinary traditions of Zubrowka have for a long time experienced the influence of the Czechs, Austrians, Hungarians, and, to a lesser extent – of the Germans and Poles. Zubrowka is located between Germany, Poland and Czechia, being divided into two historical and cultural regions: the Lowland Counties, including the Snowy Lake and the River Wlhawa Valley, and the Highlands, that is, the Zubrowkian Alps. Thus, whilst the mountain food is rather plain, substantial, and sustaining, being more reminiscent of the Apline culinary heritage as a whole, the Lowlands’ one is more refined, elaborate and urban-oriented.

 

Most Zubrowkians favor simple, hearty fare that is heavy on meat and fish. The basis of Zubrowkian diet is meat, mainly mutton, lamb, goat, and game including wild boar, venison, elk, hare, as well as various kinds of poultry and wild birds, all prepared in a variety of creative ways and always accompanied by a selection of sauces. The best one is the meat produced in the pure mountain air of pastoral highland communities. Here, sheep and goats make a much greater proportion of the livestock than the cows that are very rarely seen on the small, inconvenient pastures, since the exclusive predominance of lamb, whereas veal is mainly imported from abroad and is rather expensive. From the wild boar meat, the most traditional and an intensely flavorful local-style dish is prepared, which strongly reminds of the Czech _pečené vepřové koleno_ (a pork leg) and is considered the best snack for local vodka. It is slow-cooked and served with a variety of sauces and condiments, but mostly in two main variations: normal (with pepper, onion, garlic, horseradish and mustard sauce) and sweet (with honey or maple sauce). This is the undisputed national favorite among the population. Other much-beloved Zubrowkian specialties are half-roasted lamb chop, lamb cutlets stuffed with cheese and tomatoes, and an interesting dish named simply _sýrové plátky_ (cheese slices), consisting of thick toasted wine-soaked bread slices, topped with a heavy layer of cheese complete with lamb pieces and fried eggs. Pork, as a rule, is not extensively used in cooking, except for smoked ham and spicy, spiral-shaped pork _Würstchen_ (sausages), which are prepared on a grill and served with mashed vegetables, peppers and wild herbs. All meat products are very fatty and spicy, but always irresistible, and usually must be washed down with beer or something stronger.

 

The simplest, most modest and nourishing is the honest peasant fare of the shepherds cozily scattered all over the quaint Alpine hamlets and _montagnettes_ (tiny pasturelands among the dense forests in the lower elevations of the mountains). The Highland counties offer plain yet excellent-tasting dishes from recipes which are hundreds of years old. The staple of the mountain cuisine is known as “ _the shepherd’s lunch_ ”, namely a set of minced lamb, cottage cheese and wholemeal bread. Another hearty and truly authentic peasant dishes are boiled meat and mashed potatoes with stone-hard bread coated in rendered mutton fat, as well as a delicious meal consisting of plenty of pasta, potatoes, mutton, cheese, and onions. In the small cloisters hidden among the high Sudetenwaltz mountains the pigs are grown for sale, but the monks themselves do not eat pork, being content with pigs’ ears broth.

 

As an entrée the people prefer thick, sauce-resembling soups, the best example of which is a Zubrowkian variety of Hungarian _gulyas_ or Czech _polevka v chlebu_ – the shepherd’s soup or, more precisely, the cross between a stew and a soup, hot and nourishing, with lamb, peppers and herbs, served in a large round “pot” carved in a whole loaf of bread, which should be eaten after its contents are finished. The flavorful lamb meatballs soup is also widespread. Residents of the Lake Districts and Wlhawa River Valley cook flavorful fish chowder, which is more spicy and nourishing than the usual fish soup. In the summertime the lighter, fruit soups are preferred, most common of which is such Zubrowkian specialty as _Apfelsuppe_ , that is, apple soup, creamy, sweet-savoury, lightly thickened, made from a blend of chicken broth, sweet apples, tomatoes and small potatoes. Widespread are also tasty and nutritious soups boiled in beer.

 

Zubrowkian cuisine prefers rather simple garnishes: vegetables in its different forms, especially peas, carrots and potatoes, as well as mountain berries and wild mushrooms, all of the above often cooked in thick gravy. A special kind of snack is thin pita-like bread with the addition of mountain herbs, which should be eaten immersed in vegetable oil (or locally produced saffron oil in the Highlands) and is mostly combined with such ingredients as onion or cheese. Zubrowka is also famous for its own kind of honey which has woody, earthy aromas and supposed medicinal properties. There is another enjoyable specialty, as well, which is also famous the world over: the finest-quality, thoroughly delicious Zubrowkian maple syrup which is used extensively in a great variety of local foods, especially to sweeten savory dishes, and makes many delightful meals even more mouthwatering, but goes best on pancakes, muffins and waffles. Other palatable maple products are pale-golden sugar used to sweeten coffee or make candies, and maple butter whipped with sugar.

 

Almost without exception, all Zubrowkians are very well-known lovers of all thing sweet. The natural desserts like wild forest and mountain berries – cranberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants and many others – are consumed in large quantities both freshly-picked and beaten with cream or honey, the latter being an excellent condiment for a dish known as _hlad-zabiják_ (which literally means “hunger-killer”), a dessert of butter-cooked thick risen pancakes. Apart from this, a real medley of rich, delectable desserts and cakes feature in Zubrowkian menus. Flat-dough meat and cheese pies, fruit dumplings with cheese and sugar, plump hot muffins topped with berries and syrup, and glorious fruit tarts, are all enjoyed by the locals for dessert or simply for pleasure. The broad range of Zubrowka’s sugary treats includes lush homemade pancakes with sweet curd cheese, soft puff buns poured over with maple syrup, and thin rolls of fried dough with cinnamon and hot chocolate, that are much beloved and widespread, as are fried-dough balls filled with hot chocolate cream, Zubrowkian strudels with apple and cheese fillings, pastry “snails” in maple syrup, thin crescent-shaped pastries ( _kifli_ , _měsíce_ , _kornetki_ ), soft sugar-powdered pretzels with nuts, cheese, or caramel, and thin dough rolls stuffed with lemon, raisins, walnuts, chestnuts, almonds, poppy seeds, cheese, or chocolate. Other delicious sweet specialties doubtlessly worth mentioning include chocolate cake halves between which white creamy icing is squeezed, a pie with coffeecake-like topping and a thick molasses bottom, and an upside-down short-pastry cake with a rich caramel base. In addition, the city-dwellers adore the “ _Kaiser’s delight_ ” (golden, sautéed soufflé pancakes, at once airy and fluffy, served with ice cream and stewed plums) alongside thin-dough sweet pancakes ( _palačinky_ ) with nuts, cheese, cinnamon, and raisins filling (served usually with a variety of sauces made of clotted cream, fruits, jams, soft cheese, chocolate, rum, honey, or ice cream), and traditional waffles called _oplatky_ – thin flour discs with a chocolate, pistachio, almond, walnut, caramel, or honey layer in between. But nowhere are the sugary wonders as sweet and delicious as they are in the numerous, tiny urban patisseries. The highly-valued hand-made confections list offers many classic delights, such as the much-enjoyed, superb sweet treats melting on the tongue, invented by prominent, exceptionally ingenious and talented local confectioners: tartlets with oranges ( _tartelette a l’orange_ ), charlottes with exotic fruits ( _charlotte aux fruits exotiques_ ), macaroons with caramel and yarrow ( _millefeuille caramélisé_ ), “Opera cakes” ( _gateaux l’opera_ ) and the so-called “coffee nuns” – _religieuse au café_ (small coffee-flavored cakes adorned with a coffee bean on top). And, of course, this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning a pastry by far the most popular with all the ranks and estates – the particularly famous, world-renowned “cocottes in chocolate” ( _courtesan au chocolate_ ), the religieuse pastry-type, tower-like, chocolate-cream-filled, beautifully decorated, and topped off with a cocoa bean. It is a uniquely Zubrowkian treat, an undisputed local favorite and the country’s most famous product, made exclusively in the spa town of Nebelsbad according to a fiercely-guarded original recipe. As for the chocolate itself, it is mainly imported from Germany and Switzerland and is scarcely-sold, very expensive, and thus not for everyone to be able to afford. In several places of the country marzipan-making is developed, by example of the adjacent Germany, but its quality is far behind the German one.

 

Widely popular with Zubrowkians are such alcoholic beverages as imported wine, port, brandy, whiskey, absinthe, and other types of hard liquor. Almost every mountain clan possesses and cherishes its own recipe for homemade rum and liqueur. Much popularity enjoys mulled wines, punches, and various tinctures of forest herbs, roots and nuts. However, wine consumption is not that popular among the commoners and is mainly reserved for the well-off classes. There are several beverages that are synonymous with the country itself. The first one we should definitely name is the national strong alcohol brand, Zubrowkian fruit vodka (which is respectively called “ _Zubrowka_ ”), the most ubiquitous of the country’s drinks, which is made from plums, rowans, apricots, pears, cherries, grapes, apples, or peaches, and is successfully exported. The national Zubrowkian beer brands produced by the old, fully-fledged breweries are stout “ _Zubr_ ” (meaning “Wisent”) and lager “ _Ziegen_ ” (which has nothing to do with Gypsies and derives its name from the goatherd shepherds who had started brewing it at their makeshift mountainside microbreweries, centuries ago). They are both made from barley, bitter hops and water from mountain springs, enjoy ongoing popularity and have already won international recognition, but are consumed by the locals mostly on the national holiday called Ziegenfest (the 14th of January). Of soft drinks, the larger part of Zubrowkians likes coffee most of all, which is consumed in huge quantities. The most favorite among the refined urbans is high-end, designer coffee enriched with either milk and orange liqueur or clotted cream or brandy, and served with a glass of mineral water to wash it down. Instead of tea, which is not a particularly favored drink in Zubrowka, the people drink “ _the mountaineer’s water_ ” – a chamomile or peppermint extract otherwise known as _heřmánek_. Freshly picked elderberries, rosehips, dandelions, chamomiles, and linden tree flowers are used all around the country to make dozens of varieties of herbal teas. The mead-like honey drinks and clear, slightly sweet and refreshing birch sap are also very popular with the common people. As for the dairy products, it must be noted that the people of Zubrowka drink very little cow’s milk, and the one imported from Germany is mainly consumed by wealthy families. Almost everywhere sheep milk is consumed instead, of which a boozy dessert milkshake is produced that should be drunk out of a small horn. From this milk a variety of local cheeses is also prepared, both hard and soft ones, as well as other dairy produce including special Zubrowkian types – oil cheese, cottage cheese and salty butter, which are all integral to many dishes. Locally produced sheep and goat cheese is used liberally, its tangy flavor pairing beautifully with meat and vegetables. The highly-acclaimed, flavorsome cheeses are obligatory part of the delicious local varieties of raclette and fondue (crackers which are served with potatoes, ham and pearl onions, and eaten by dipping them in hot sheep or goat cheese melted under a flame or a lamp). Sometimes people even mix chocolate with melted cheese (as well as with marzipan). Many types of Zubrowkian cheese combine with various nuts and honey sauces which make them even more delicious. These national staples are truly authentic local produce and boast a unique taste well-known far and wide.

 

Naturally, there are lots of down-market pretzel-hauses, waffelhuts, bars, taverns, alehouses, biergartens and countless other eateries for the common people in every locality, and numerous up-market urban restaurants, coffeehouses, delicatessens, bakeries and patisseries catering for the better-off, upper classes and serving the dishes which can compete with the best examples of the European haute cuisine.

 

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The food of the Maltese Riviera, Zubrowka’s only overseas possession, reflects the island’s ethnic diversity as well as the natural bounty of produce available year-round. The island’s food has evolved to embrace various new recipes and ingredients. Its cuisine stands noticeably apart from the metropolis’s, because it bears witness to the influences of such diverse ethnic groups as the Arabs, Turks, Spaniards, Slavs and Italians, showing traces of all the aforementioned cultures, and the Maltese have preserved more of that influence than almost any other place in Europe. The Arabs had brought to the island coffee beans, citrus fruits, melons, rice, raisins, couscous, and spices (saffron, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg). From the Turks the islanders had received baklava, Turkish delight, sorbets, and halvah. The Greeks had taught them how to cook eggplants, squashes, peppers, honey, beans, pitas (unleavened bread with tomatoes, cheese and lettuce), and feta cheese pies. The Spaniards had introduced the population to cocoa, tomatoes, peppers, Indian corn and pumpkins. The Slavic settlers had instilled into the locals the fondness for meat dishes, and from the Italians they had got affection for pasta, pizza, lasagna, risotto, and polenta-like corn porridge (as a trimming to the main course). All in all, the fusion of traditional cuisines has brought delicious modern offerings with an unmistakable Maltese twist.

 

The Maltese Riviera is justly called the fruitbowl of Zubrowka. The island is famous for its freshest fruits, berries, melons and gourds which are available in this land all the year round – figs, grapes, peaches, pomegranates, bananas, persimmons, oranges, lemons, tangerines, cherries, mulberries, melons, watermelons, and many others, which are consumed both fresh and in dried form, made into jams, jellies and marmalades, or added into sweet thin pancakes and other delightful pastries. Lusciously ripe fruits can be sampled only on the island itself, whereas dried and canned ones are also forwarded to Zubrowka, where little of its own fruits can be cultivated because of the climate. Also ubiquitous are olives, and almost everywhere grow nuts (almonds, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts and pine nuts), lending their mild and subtle nutty flavors to many dishes and seasonings. Locally produced olive and almond oils are added to almost every course. Moreover, there are several varieties of the island’s own cheese made from sheep milk and strongly reminiscent of mozzarella, parmesan and mascarpone, albeit with sourer flavor, and perfect as a wine snack.

 

It is in the Maltese Riviera where everyone can sample the most exceptional seafood native to the local cuisine. The Maltese are great lovers of fish and other edible marine creatures. In contrast to the metropolis, where the cuisine is dominated by meat dishes, here in the Riviera, encircled by the azure, sun-pierced Mediterranean waters, people increasingly prefer great food based on the generous sea offerings, of which there are plenty (dozens of species and types of fish, shellfish, cuttlefish, octopus and seaweed). Thus, seafood is at the heart of the Maltese Riviera culinary traditions. However, despite the local fondness for meals based on marine products, meat is also a popular component of many dishes. There are meat dishes popular with the islanders, including some tempting delicacies such as dough rolls filled with fresh meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and onions, and macaroni and minced meat casseroles topped with a browned crust of feta cheese. Maltese Riviera cuisine makes generous use of all kinds of pasta with sauces and cheeses, not to mention such local specialties as thick soups and vegetable casseroles topped with grated cheese and dry breadcrumbs, and meat or fish cutlets with rice wrapped into grape leaves and served with unleavened flatbread and string cheese. Truly renowned is the ubiquitous local staple, the national sauce called _jajick_ or _dzadzyki_ , a delicious mixture of soft sheep cheese, fresh cucumber and garlic slices, mint leaves, and olive oil.

 

The typical snacks most popular with commoners are preserved and seasoned nuts, fruits, seeds and sweets. But, although the Maltese Riviera desserts make the most of local fruits, there are other, more elaborate, lavish-tasting and calorie-laden varieties of sweet offerings, such as almond-flavored biscuits, chocolate and pistachio biscotti, mild-flavored shell-shaped fried pastries with a sweet, creamy filling, coconut-flavored custard puddings, walnut mamouls, deep-fried dough balls dusted with powdered sugar, almond-studded bagels, almond-flour cookies mingled with coconut shavings, flavorful shell-shaped pastries filled with butter or chocolate, crispy rolls with sweet cream cheese and chocolate chips, rice balls with honey or fruit syrup, and sweet monastery lenten pies made from pistachios, almonds, honey and chocolate. Tiramisu, brightly colored marzipan fruits and lavender or ginger marmalade are also widely beloved.

 

The Maltese Riviera drinks come in many forms and were designed to refresh a person on a hot Mediterranean day and to lift their spirits on a rainy, stormy one. The most popular varieties are freshly-squeezed juices, along with colorful sweet drinks of crushed ice with orange, lemon, watermelon and jasmine flavors, served in high glasses festooned with orchids. Other favorites include the liqueurs made of locally grown raisins, lemons and almonds, the beverages made of downy-skinned peaches and caramel-sweet dates, and the delicious refreshing tinctures and concoctions from the flowers, fruits and succulents the island is habitat of. Needless to say, the soil and the climate of the island are ideal for growing grapes which let the locals produce some excellent table wines. The most respectable vintages in the region are produced from the local grapevines, the most prominent of which is a special sort of mild wine, made of the tenderest rose petals, one of the region’s finest.

 

Although both branches of Zubrowkian vernacular cuisine comprise basic hearty food prepared from simple recipes, they feature a wide variety of local specialties and, even being plain and calories-laden more often than not, are invariably healthy, diverse and mouthwatering. Zubrowkian food mostly consists of simple, yet hearty, filling and appetizing staples, and the locals adore good food at all times. The highly varied culinary heritage of the small but proud country does reflect its rich and long history, and its influences come from the many ethnic groups that make up Zubrowkian society. But most of all it has been affected by the hard life of the indigenous Zubrowkians, the inhabitants of the rugged mountains and dense forests, and the Maltese Riviera islanders, the brave sailors and fishermen. Traditional Zubrowkian food is still opened to outside influences and modified to appeal to every palate, but nonetheless carefully keeps up with its original spirit, and its any dish will certainly enhance your appetite and make you beg for more.

 

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